FIRST LADY, FIGHTER FIRST
by a unanimous decision in 2009 in Kiel, Germany, a thrilling, immensely gratifying experience that still makes her smile, but one that included disturbing fallout, according to Braekhus. “Oh my God, it meant so much,” she said. “Professional boxing was banned in Norway, banned since 1981. I had to move to Germany. I worked so hard. New culture, new language, a hard training regimen. [Wegner] was from the old East Germany. It was very, very hard. And it was all worth it when I won [those belts].” The dark cloud?
and success for so long has incredible discipline and commitment,” said junior welterweight champion Katie Taylor, currently No. 1 on The Ring’s women’s pound-for-pound list. “As a professional athlete, I feel it’s your job to show up to the gym and do the work every single day, even when you don’t feel like it. That takes integrity and discipline. “You’ll spend a few minutes in Cecilia’s company and realize she’s a woman of integrity.”
of the capitol, said simply, “It was a big moment.” “The prime minister made a promise that if she got elected, she would push to change the law. And sure enough, she kept her promise. That was the result of Cecilia’s work,” said Tom Loeffler, Braekhus’ longtime U.S. promoter. Less than two years later, on October 1, 2016, the first boxing event after the ban was overturned took place at the Oslo Spektrum in the nation’s capital. Ten thousand-plus packed the arena to see their remarkable countrywoman in person. And she didn’t disappoint any of them. Braekhus, a technician more than a puncher, nonetheless knocked out former titleholder Anne Sophie Mathis in the second round in an electric atmosphere that Loeffler described as “like a rock concert.” She clearly had become a superstar in her country. “It was so loud,” he said. “And it was all for her. Her charisma, her personality, the way she carries herself, that’s why she receives that kind of adulation over there. And, of course, she earned it by the fact she was so dominant in the ring. “She personified what it means to be the first lady of boxing. She really has become a great ambassador for the sport.” Which brings us back to the first sentence of this article. Braekhus never set out to be an ambassador or a role model or pioneer. All she ever wanted was to be a fighter, judged not by her gender but by her ability. She cringes when she thinks back on the state of women’s boxing when she entered the sport. She remembers as an amateur that the men received the lion’s share of support – coaching, medical care and other resources – from their respective federations, leaving the women to fend for themselves. Braekhus said they provided each other emotional support because they didn’t get it anywhere else.
“Getting punched in the face was unimaginable for young girls, to have big muscles, sweaty, snotty, bloody. ... I had to sneak out to train for about a year.”
“Vinni and I were competing for one spot with Sauerland,” she went on, her smile quickly disappearing. “They had European champions, world champions, boxers from all over the world, but room
for only one woman. That was the spot we fought for. It wasn’t only the belt. It was to be the first lady (yes, that’s the origin of her nickname) at Sauerland Promotions. “It’s sad to think about that part of it, absolutely heartbreaking. I felt relief and joy [by winning], but it also showed what kind of position women were in.” Braekhus would go on to reign as welterweight champion an impossible 11 years, 154 days and had the 25 successful defenses between 2009 and 2020, which earned her a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. A shutout victory over then-IBF titleholder Ivana Habazin in 2014 gave her all four major 147-pound belts, making her the first woman to become an undisputed champion. And she rebounded from the losses to McCaskill to beat Kozin in Norway in a fairy-tale finale to her career. Those remarkable achievements are a testament to Braekhus’ sublime boxing ability (she was a superb defensive fighter), work ethic, lifestyle and resilience. That’s why she became the undisputed champion role model for other women boxers. “Any person who has that longevity
Braekhus was fighting another battle amid all her success in the ring – against her own government. She made it her parallel mission to do everything in her power to have the ban overturned. Of course, her popularity engendered support for her cause. More than half the population of Norway reportedly tuned into her biggest fights, and many traveled to Denmark when she fought there, which gave considerable clout to her efforts in lobbying politicians and the Norwegian Medical Association over a number of years. Among those politicians was future prime minister Erna Solberg, who embraced the cause. Braekhus and her allies cited fighter safety regulations, drug testing and other protective measures used by the best boxing commissions in the world to allay – or at least minimize – concerns over the inherent dangers of boxing, which was the reason the ban went into effect in the first place. Finally, on December 16, 2014, the Norwegian parliament voted to lift the ban. Boxing had returned to Norway after more than 30 years. The vote was 54 for, 48 against. Braekhus, who watched the proceedings from the basement
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forbade her to go to the kickboxing gym. Naturally, that didn’t stop the determined teen. “Girls my age weren’t supposed to kickbox,” Braekhus told The Ring. “Getting punched in the face was unimaginable for young girls, to have big muscles, sweaty, snotty, bloody. That just wasn’t a thing back then. That’s why my parents gave me a hard ‘no’ to kickboxing. I had to sneak out to train for about a year. “I think in the end they knew they couldn’t change anything. I just educated them about the coaches, what we did, how we were serious athletes. They were impressed when they saw that.” And it turned out that Braekhus was a damn good fighter. She won a number of national, European and international kickboxing tournaments before finally coming to the realization that there were no more hills to climb. At 21 years old, in search of new challenges, she became
a boxer. The transition was seamless. She finished her amateur boxing career with a record of 75-5 and some significant accomplishments, including a European championship and a silver medal in the World Championships in 2005 when women still weren’t welcome in the Olympics. The natural next step was to enter the professional ranks, although that move presented unusual challenges. One, the women’s boxing landscape was still largely barren. Christy Martin had success in the 1990s because Don King decided to invest in her. Laila Ali, who fought primarily in the 2000s, used her name and ability to carve out her own niche and eventually joined her famous father in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. However, beyond Martin, Ali and perhaps one or two others, boxing was still the domain of men. Opportunities were few even for the most talented women.
And two, Braekhus had the misfortune of living in a country in which professional boxing was illegal. So, in 2007, she packed her gym bag and moved to Germany, which provided the infrastructure she would need to launch a career. It was during that first year that she signed with European powerbroker Sauerland Promotion and began working with veteran trainer Ulli Wegner. That doesn’t mean she had it easy. On the contrary, she had to tussle outside the ropes with her handlers to get meaningful fights and learned that the backing of an influential company was never guaranteed. She won her first world titles – the WBA and WBC welterweight versions – by defeating stablemate Vinni Skovgaard
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